ENG-1968 — Page 157

HEALTH

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without one case of diphtheria during the four consecutive weeks ending September 7, 1968. Immunizations are offered at all government medical institutions while mobile teams of inoculators visit schools, squatter and other crowded areas, and conduct house to house visits in resettlement estates. Every effort is made through the available media of health education to inform parents of the dangers of the disease and to encourage them to insure that their children are protected. The results of these efforts can be seen when it is observed that there has been a steady decline in the number of cases notified annually and in 1968 only 113 cases were recorded (the figure for 1967 was 226), and represented 5.41 per cent of the corresponding figure for 1959. The case fatality ratio was 8.85 in 1968. Most deaths occurred in non-immunized children who showed advanced laryngeal or pulmonary complications due to delay in seeking proper medical attention. The vaccine used in the mass campaign combined immunization against diphtheria with active anti-tetanus prophylaxis.

Typhoid fever incidence showed the usual seasonal variation tending to be higher during the summer months. In Hong Kong it is generally mild and is frequently associated with neglect in personal and community hygiene. Free inoculation is offered and the usual control measures are enforced, special attention being paid to the detection of carriers among food handlers.

Bacillary dysentery also showed the customary seasonal pattern with a somewhat higher than average number of cases being recorded during the summer months of 1968.

Poliomyelitis remained a disease of low incidence with only 15 cases being reported during the year. This satisfactory position is mainly due to the combined vaccination programme consisting of one dose of Type I poliovaccine soon after birth, followed by a full course of two doses of 'balanced' trivalent vaccine at three and five months of age. Approximately 77 per cent of new-borns received one dose of Type I poliovaccine; more than half of these children subsequently received two doses of the 'balanced' trivalent vaccine at maternal and child health centres, while a further proportion received this further protection in the course of annual Colony- wide campaigns.